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A rapidly growing number of Americans are embracing life outside the bounds of organized religion. Although America has long been viewed as a fervently Christian nation, survey data show that more and more Americans identify as "not religious." American Secularism documents how changes to American society have fueled these shifts in the (non)religious landscape and examines the diverse and dynamic world of secular Americans. Baker and Smith offer a framework for understanding nonreligious belief systems as worldviews in their own right, rather than merely as negations of religion. Drawing on multiple sources of empirical data, this volume explores how people make meaning outside of organized religion, outlines multiple expressions of secular identity, and connects these self-expressions to patterns of family formation, socialization, social class, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality. Further, the authors demonstrate how shifts in secularisms reflect changes in the political meanings of religion in American culture. Ultimately, American Secularism offers a more comprehensive sociological understanding of worldviews beyond traditional religion. -- from back cover.
A venture into the art and science of measuring religion in everyday life In an era of rapid technological advances, the measures and methods used to generate data about religion have undergone remarkably little change. Faithful Measures pushes the study of religion into the 21st century by evaluating new and existing measures of religion and introducing new methods for tapping into religious behaviors and beliefs. This book offers a global and innovative approach, with chapters on the intersection of religion and new technology, such as smart phone apps, Google Ngrams, crowdsourcing data, and Amazon buying networks. It also shows how old methods can be improved by using new technology to create online surveys with experimental designs and by developing new ways of mining data from existing information. Chapter contributors thoroughly explain how to employ these new techniques, and offer fresh insights into understanding the complex topic of religion in modern life. Beyond its quantitative contributions, Faithful Measures will be an invaluable resource for inspiring a new wave of creativity and exploration in our connected world.
This book was written for both the new churchgoer and the senior churchgoer. It begins with a history of the church and leads into how the church leadership of today operates. This book was written to show that there is no such thing as a perfect church, but there is a church that should be striving toward perfection. This book allows its readers to test their church to ensure that sound Christian doctrine is being taught and put to the test. As stated earlier, there is no perfect church; every church has issues that must be dealt with, and this book covers many of those issues through a firsthand account and gives actions that can help eliminate these troublesome areas. It also deals with w...
The field of public opinion is one of the most diverse in political science. Over the last 60 years, scholars have drawn upon the disciplines of psychology, economics, sociology, and even biology to learn how ordinary people come to understand the complicated business of politics. But much of the path-breaking research in the field of public opinion is published in journals, taking up fairly narrow questions one at a time and often requiring advanced statistical knowledge to understand these findings. As a result, the study of public opinion can seem confusing and incoherent to undergraduates. To engage undergraduate students in this area, a new type of textbook is required. The second editi...
In merely two decades, a small number of resource-poor religious organizations have created a new ethic, and a new set of green religious traditions, with an infrastructure in place to educate and mobilize individuals and organizations. To Care for Creation explains how religious environmentalism has emerged despite various institutional and cultural barriers, and why the new movement organizations follow a logic and set of practices that set them apart from the secular movement. In addition to the new ethic and green religious traditions, Ellingson shows how the movement launches programs to make religious building environmentally, friendly, fight toxic waste and mountain-top removal, protect watersheds, and promote sustainable agriculture. His book research involved him in six dozen interviews with key players in the 70 or so extant religious environmental movement organizations, which are set against secular environmental organizations; the difference is between a message of hope for the religious movement vs. one of doom and gloom for the secular movement. The religious movement is sorely understudied, and it addresses a crucial issue of the dayclimate change."
Despite three decades of scientists' warnings and environmentalists' best efforts, the political will and public engagement necessary to fuel robust action on global climate change remain in short supply. Katharine K. Wilkinson shows that, contrary to popular expectations, faith-based efforts are emerging and strengthening to address this problem. In the US, perhaps none is more significant than evangelical climate care. Drawing on extensive focus group and textual research and interviews, Between God & Green explores the phenomenon of climate care, from its historical roots and theological grounding to its visionary leaders and advocacy initiatives. Wilkinson examines the movement's recepti...
Based in the idea that social phenomena are best studied through the lens of different disciplinary perspectives, Empty Churches studies the growing number of individuals who no longer affiliate with a religious tradition. Co-editors Jan Stets, a social psychologist, and James Heft, a historian of theology, bring together leading scholars in the fields of sociology, developmental psychology, gerontology, political science, history, philosophy, and pastoral theology. The scholars in this volume explore the phenomenon by drawing from each other's work to understand better the multi-faceted nature of non-affiliation today. They explore the complex impact that non-affiliation has on individuals ...
"The second volume of American Examples presents nine new essays with fresh multidisciplinary approaches to understanding the place of faith, broadly understood, in America, broadly understood"--
"Based on extensive research and their own unique personal experiences, the authors reveal that a significant number of Americans hold these beliefs, and that for better or worse, we undoubtedly live in a paranormal America. Readers will join the authors as they participate in psychic and palm readings, and have their auras photographed, join a Bigfoot hunt, follow a group of celebrity ghost hunters as they investigate claims of a haunted classroom, and visit a support group for alien abductees."--Provided by publisher.
Introducing Religion examines the different ways of looking at religion in the twenty-first century. Providing a broad overview to the discipline of religious studies, this new edition continues to introduce students to engaging and contemporary topics such as: sociology of religion psychology of religion history of religion religion and art religious ethics popular religion religion and violence Thoroughly updated throughout, this sixth edition includes new coverage of current debates and hot topics in the field, such as concerns about "essentialism" in religion, the importance of categorization, and the role of psychology in religious experience. This textbook is fundamental reading for students approaching this subject area for the first time.